THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 5, 1994 TAG: 9408050739
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE WISEMAN, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: FORT MILL, S.C. LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
Norfolk catcher Joe Kmak's disgusted, frustrated look was fueled by empathy for his pitcher Thursday night.
Joe Roa held one of the International League's top teams to a scant run for eight innings, but Charlotte strung three ninth-inning hits together to eke out a 2-1 victory over the Tides at Knights Castle.
Roa (7-5) slumped off the field and flung his glove into the dugout in disgust after the rally. Later, Kmak stared at the floor in front of his locker.
``He pitched a great game,'' Kmak said. ``He had command of all three of his pitches. That's as well as you're going to pitch against that team in this ballpark.''
Roa allowed 10 hits, but the first-place Knights (67-45) only had more than one hit in an inning twice - in the first and the ninth. Both times produced a run.
Hot-hitting Brian Giles led off the Charlotte ninth with a solid single to centerfield for his third hit of the game. Roa struck out Herbert Perry, but Jesse Levis grounded a single to rightfield. Giles held at second.
The next batter, Matt Merullo, smacked Roa's first pitch on the ground up the middle. The grounder found its way into centerfield and Giles motored home with the winning run.
``Their pitcher threw an outstanding ballgame,'' Charlotte manager Brian Graham said. ``He put the ball in good spots. But Giles, Jesse and Matty came through in tough situations.''
Norfolk (55-58) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning without a hit.
Quilvio Veras drew a leadoff walk, stole second and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Doug Dascenzo. He scored on a passed ball.
Charlotte tied it with a two-out rally in the bottom of the inning. Giles extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a double and Perry drove him in with a single to left for a 1-1 tie.
Charlotte's Paul Byrd, making his first Triple-A start this season, matched Roa's brilliance for six innings. But he reached his pitch limit and was replaced by lefthander Russ Swan.
That's when Norfolk missed a chance to take the lead.
With one out in the seventh, Kmak singled and Bill Wertz replaced Swan.
Jim Vatcher hit into a fielder's choice before Wertz walked Pat Howell and Veras to load the bases.
Wertz buckled down, however, getting two strikes on Dascenzo before inducing a groundball back to the mound.
The Tides got a two-out single from Shawn Hare in the eighth and a one-out single from Vatcher in the ninth with runner on base.
While Charlotte was on its fourth pitcher by that point, Roa still toiled for the Tides.
After Charlotte's rally, Kmak could offer little solace.
``There's nothing you can say that will make him feel better,'' Kmak said. ``A loss is a loss.'' by CNB